What Saudi Arabia is (and isn’t) doing in the fight against the Islamic State

The rise of the Islamic State has led to remarkable growth in Western criticism of Saudi Arabia. Often, these critics go far further than simply claiming that the Gulf kingdom, one of the West's most important allies in the region, is not pulling its weight in the fight against the Islamic State.

Instead, they argue that the very theology upon which the Saudi state depends — an ultraconservative brand of Islam dubbed Wahhabism — is the same as the apocalyptic distortion of Islam that drives that group to terrible acts. They argue that, far from being two enemies opposed to each other, the two powers are hopelessly intertwined.

Newborn baby discovered in New York church’s nativity scene

The custodian on duty at the Holy Child of Jesus Church in New York Monday beheld a scene straight out of Scripture. Hearing the sound of a baby’s cry, he found a newborn wrapped in towels laying inside, of all places, the wooden manger of the church’s nativity scene.

The infant, who weighed about 5 pounds, still had his umbilical cord attached. As emergency crews arrived to take him to the Jamaica Hospital in Queens, his eyes remained closed, his slight arms outstretched towards the sky.

“For unto us a child is born,” Rev. Christopher Ryan Heanue announced on the parish’s Facebook page. “Let us pray for this child, for his parents and for whomever will receive him into their home.”

NABBED Alleged kidnappers apprehended and beaten in Lagos

 (photos)

Two men were apprehended and beaten up by a mob in Agege, Lagos around 11am this morning after someone identified them as they allegedly tried to dupe a woman on the streets. The man raised alarm and claimed the men had also tried to swindle and kidnap him and people descended on them. See more photos after the cut...

Can you spot the new cashpoint con? Crooks hiding miniature cameras to rob your security PIN

Con: Can you spot the con?

A new cashpoint skimming device is being used by thieves to read people's PIN numbers at cashpoints.

British Transport Police (BTP) have released detailed photographs of the pinhole spy camera.

The images reveal how crooks attached two illegal gadgets to the ATM outside Sainsbury’s at Manchester's Piccadilly station.

A secret camera, covered in a grey tile, was fixed above the keypad to read the victims’ pin numbers.

Photos of some of the Nigerians deported from the UK today

500 Nigerians arrived Lagos today after they were bundled in a plane and deported from the UK by the UK government. More photos after the cut...

Woman Missing For 10 Years Found Living In Internet Cafe

Xiao Yun had been missing since 2005 and her family presumed she was dead.

But she had been living in different Internet cafes in a nearby city since she left her home in the eastern Chinese city of Hengdian at age 14 after a heated argument with her mom. 

The now 24-year-old hugged her mom in an emotional reunion with her parents over the weekend after she was found in Hangzhou, about 100 miles from her family's home, reports the Qianjiang Evening News.

Mother, boyfriend charged in death of toddler burned in oven

Remember the story about the little girl who was burned in the oven by her older siblings? Well her mum and her boyfriend have been charged with four counts of child endangerment.
Racqual Thompson, 25, and Cornell Malone, 21, were arrested Tuesday morning and held on bonds totaling $36,000 apiece.
Fox 26 reported, citing Child Protective Services officials, that one of Thompson's children, a 3-year-old boy, admitted to putting 19-month-old J'zyra Thompson in the oven of the couple's northeast Houston apartment on the evening of Nov. 16. According to court records prosecutors filed Monday, Racqual Thompson told police she had left the children alone for about 30 minutes to pick up Malone from work.
Later that night, Thompson and Malone again left the children alone after putting them to bed to go get some pizza and visit Malone's brother. The couple was gone for about two hours.
"Mr. Malone stated that when they returned and went into the apartment, he could 'smell something burning,'" according to a probable cause affidavit.

Thompson and Malone told police they found the three other children crying and pointing to the kitchen. In the kitchen, the oven had tipped over, with the oven's door face down on the floor, with J'zyra apparently inside, according to the affidavit.
Malone "stated he uprighted the 'range' and the next thing he noticed was J'zyra was lying on the floor. He stated that she was obviously burned and deceased," according to the affidavit. The oven had apparently been turned on "all the way.